Many people are introduced to Stephen King’s work through film and movie adaptations. King is arguably the author with the most film and TV adaptations of his work. As of now, there are at least 50 adaptations of his work. The reasons for this are many. King is a prolific writer. With 60 novels, 10 collections of short stories, and several nonfiction works, filmmakers simply have a lot of material to choose from.
One of the most famous adaptations of King’s work is The Shining, which is regarded as one of the best horror films of all time. Interestingly, King was highly critical of the film when it came out. King described The Shining as “a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it.” What King means is that it is a visually beautiful film but lacks substance. He is specifically critical that the main character has no story arc, which takes away from the emotional arc of the story. However, this did not stop King from allowing more of his books to be adapted. As a whole, King takes a hands-off approach to adaptations of his work, saying that he trusts people in the film industry to know their craft. King does not believe that an adaptation must remain blindly faithful to his books and is open to changes. However, when King chooses to be involved in an adaptation he believes an author has to join as part of the team, committing all the way to being involved in the process. If they're not willing to do that, they should just stay out of the filmmaker’s way.
The Green Mile was directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed another King adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption. The Shawshank Redemption is widely considered one of the most successful adaptations of Stephen King’s work of all time. It also is one of the author’s favorites. King let Darabont know about the serial novel he was working on before it was even published. Darabont was excited about the idea and signed on quickly after. The movie The Green Mile was released in 1999. It earned four Academy Awards nominations and was a major success at the box office, earning $286.8 million worldwide.
King is one of the great horror writers of all time. It’s already been proven how well his writing adapts to film. As long as King keeps writing, it can be assured that people will continue to adapt his work to film and TV.
